Pauls Valley hospital closes; 'no other path forward'
PAULS VALLEY, Okla. -- Just a month after the Pauls Valley City Council installed new management at the community's financially troubled hospital, Pauls Valley Regional Medical Center has shut down.
"We have been fortunate enough to serve this community through thick and thin," the hospital said in a statement posted on Facebook Saturday afternoon. "Unfortunately the time has arrived to close our doors, with no other path forward."
About 130 employees will be losing their jobs, and some reacted on Facebook.
"Us employees really worked hard to save the hospital and our jobs," wrote Susan Reeves Gullion, who had been a medical receptionist. "Not only is there no hospital to go to, we also do not have a job."
Another employee, Khrisda Decker, used Facebook to express her outrage and frustration.
Be professional and accountable. We have taken care of this community. Now take care of us and help us understand. Not one person from the city/hospital board has reached out to us that I'm aware of. The fact that the local newspaper was invited to the finalized decision but staff had to learn from hearsay and a text message is 10000% unacceptable.
The Pauls Valley Police Department said Wadley's EMS will provide an ambulance for the city through the weekend.
"As for future plans, that information has not been made available to our agency at this time," the department said in a Facebook post late Friday night.
According to Frank Avignone, CEO of Alliance Health Partners, the City Council met Friday and decided there was no path forward for Garvin County's only hospital.
AHP had established a Save Pauls Valley Hospital GoFundMe page with a $2 million goal. Only $3,840 was raised.
On Facebook, the hospital said questions about the shutdown should be directed to the Pauls Valley Hospital Trust Authority, but it could not provide additional information about how to do that. "We are working to clarify this at this time," the hospital said in response to a question, promising to provide an update "in the next couple of days."
The nearest hospitals -- in Arbuckle and Purcell -- are each about 30 minutes away.